Table of Hydraulics and Hydrostatics, from the 1728 Cyclopaedia. Hydraulics is a topic of science and engineering dealing with the mechanical properties of liquids. Hydraulics is part of the more general discipline of fluid power. Fluid mechanics provides the theoretical foundation for hydraulics, which focuses on the engineering uses of fluid properties. Hydraulic topics range through most science and engineering disciplines, and cover concepts such as pipe flow, dam design, fluid control circuitry, pumps, turbines, hydropower, computational fluid dynamics, flow measurement, river channel behavior and erosion. The word "hydraulics" originates from the Greek word ?d?a?????? (hydraulikos) which in turn originates from ?d?a???? meaning water organ which in turn comes from ?d?? (water) and a???? (pipe).